Shadows Fall
by CZBeano
Summary: A story of a young boy with a cursed bloodline.
1. Solitude

Note: This first chapter may seem a bit confusing but it will serve to advance the story later on.  
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Leaning up against the nearby tree, Shadow began to think.

"Who am I?", he asked himself.

"You're you.", the voice in his head responded.

"But what is my purpose? Why am I here."

"Your purpose will be found out in time."

Picking a kuni out of his pocket, he began to twirl it in the air.

"What am I?"

"A mistake. A mere shadow of the great Uchiha clan."

"But why should I even be alive in the first place."

"To kill him. Your creator."

"Only if it comes to that."

"It will. In time you will see things the way I do."

"In time I will take control."

Shadow, lost in thought, missed the kuni as it fell, cutting a gash into his hand. Reaching down he picked up the kuni. Watching his blood run down the edge of the blade he thought,

Only if it comes to that.

Pocketing the kuni, he looked down at his watch. It was almost time for the graduation ceremony. Sucking the remaining blood off his finger he set off toward his village.


	2. Home

Sitting in the back row of the class he watched as his former Sensei called the students up in turn to receive their diplomas. The academy classes had been a breeze for him, not surprisingly considering where his bloodline had originated from. Watching the students walk up one by one to wave their teacher goodbye, Shadow started to daydream about the first time he entered this village. 

Waking up with a start Shadow looked throughout the room around him. Having no memory of how he had gotten there, he started to panic. Trying to lift his arms he noticed he was strapped to a table. After a few minutes of work he managed to free one arm, and then the other. He was in a small, dark room littered with medical equipment and papers. Reaching down he picked up one of the pieces of paper to read it but it was written in some sort of medical code. Stepping out of the bed it felt like he hadn't walked in years. This thought struck a cord with him and he tried to think back to the last time he had walked. Pulling a blank he tried to think back to anything at all. His mind was empty.

Out of nowhere a voice, cool and collected, told him he had to go. Searching around the room for the source of the voice, he noticed for the first time the illustration on the ceiling. A massive red eye stared back at him. The red paint, (It was paint, right?), seemed to blend into the wall and make the eye spin. Transfixed on the painting a loud explosion snapped Shadow back to reality. Exiting the room he looked out into the hallway, he was underground from the looks of things, and started looking for an exit. Another massive explosion rocked the foundation of the building as Shadow started to run for the exit. Finally finding it Shadow made it outside just in time as the building imploded into itself.

Looking at the flames Shadow could have swore he saw a dark figure, human and yet somehow not, staring back at him. The figure let out a horrible laugh and dissolved back into the smoke. Shadow ran. Running through the forest he wove through the trees in order to escape his invisible pursuer. Colliding into something he fell down on his back.

"Hey, are you okay?", the man asked, holding out his hand.

Shadow tentatively took the man's hand and stood up.

"Welcome to the village Hidden in Sound."


	3. Teammates

"Alright everyone. That concludes the graduation ceremony. If you would all line up I will start sorting you into your brand new Genin teams." 

Slowly the students formed a line in front of their former teacher. The man then started calling out the new cells.

"Three students will be sorted into a team and will be led by a Jonin instructor. Take some time to talk to your new teammates and then head out to your specified classroom."

Shadow looked around for his teammates. Not having grown up in the village he didn't know these people that well.

"Hey, you're Shadow right?", a voice called out from behind him.

Shadow turned around to face a young girl, whose long black hair obscured most on her face.

"I'm Mari.", she said, hand held out in front of her. "I think I'm on your team."

"I'm Shadow.", he said, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Shadow, huh?", called out another boy behind the two. "Dumb name."

"Who are you?", Shadow asked.

"Akado. I guess I'm on your team too."

Shadow held his hand out and Akado grabbed it.

"I heard you're strong.", Akado said, increasing his grip on Shadow's hand. "We should fight some time."

Breaking his grip Akado walked off to talk to some other classmates.

"I'll catch you guys later.", he called out over his shoulder.

Mari sighed. "Don't mind him. He can be a bit of a dick at times."

"I've noticed"

A few minutes later -----------------------------------

One by one the teams stared to clear out until only Shadow and his team remained.

"We should head out pretty soon.", Mari said to her newly formed team.

"No way.", Akado barked. 'I've spent way to long in that stupid classroom just to have to go to another one."

"Then what do suggest we do?", Shadow asked, stepping forward.

"We fight."

"What could that possibly accomplish?"

"You know..", said Mari, "I actually agree with Akado for once."

The pair looked over at her.

"I mean, we obviously don't know that much about each other so a sparring match may clue us in to each others strengths and weaknesses."

"So, you man enough to fight me?"

Shadow smiled. "Bring it on."


	4. Skirmish

"I'll start!", Akado shouted, charging his fellow Sound Shinobi. 

Shadow shifted his feet, bracing himself for the attack.

Akado tossed a punch at Shadow's face, which was easily avoided. Grabbing Shadow's arm, Akado nimbly spun around him. Using his free hand, Shadow shot his elbow back at his opponent's face. Akado ducked the attack and grabbed the second arm. The two shinobi stood in the middle of the field, Shadow's arms pinned behind his back.

"The moment you let go, your going down.", Shadow said confidently.

"Who says I'm letting go?"

Akado's hands started to glow a light blue color as he held Shadow's arms firmly in place. Shadow knees started to waver, on the brink of giving out.

"What the hell?"

'This is my jutsu.", Akado smirked. "Chakra Absorption."

Shadow felt his energy draining fast. Pretty soon he would be to weak to fight back. There's no choice, he thought to himself. I'll have to use it. Using the last of his strength he sent a kick back at Akado, knocking them both off balance. Leaning forward Shadow rolled Akado over his shoulder and knocked him flat on his back.

"This is my jutsu.", Shadow said, looking down into Akado's face. "My Dark Eyes."

Akado looked up at Shadow, whose eyes had morphed into an inverted red and black. Flipping back to his feet Akado sent a spin kick to Shadow's head. The attack hit, but seemed to phase right through his body. Akado jumped backwards, tossing a kunai into the figure. This too went straight through him and embedded itself into a nearby tree.

"Damn it, Genjutsu", Akado shouted.

Pulling another kunai out of his pocket he cut a long gash into his own arm, attempting to break the illusion.

"Too late."

Shadow appeared behind him, kunai in hand, in mid attack. Akado grabbed his own kunai and dove at him. The two attacks were about to collide when a mass of smoke rose up between the two.

Both attacks were stopped as a figure emerged from the smoke. Shadow looked up into the face of the man who held his arm. The same man who had saved him that day long ago.

"Kesshi-Sensei!"


	5. Sensei

The team sat together in the classroom, their Jonin instructor Kesshi taking a seat on the desk. 

"So guys.", he said looking amongst the students. "It turns out that I get to be your new Jonin instructor. That means I will accompany you on your missions and help you work together as a team.", looking to Akado he added, "You need some help in that area."

Akado smirked. "My bad."

"I think it would be a good idea to have a test battle to see how good you guys can work together as a team. You three had the right idea but lets try working together this time. I've laid a few traps in a field about a mile from here. We'll go there and have a sparring match. You three vs me."

A few minutes later -----------------------------------

Kesshi stood atop a small rock, sword in hand, looking over his students.

"Alright, here are the rules of the game. All you three have to do is knock me down and you win. I highly suggest you combine your efforts because I don't plan on making this easy."

"Let's just get started already.", Akado barked.

"Alright then. 3, 2, 1, go."

With a flourish Kesshi disappeared from the rock he was standing on and the three Genin were left alone to plan their strategy.


	6. Test

"Alright.", said Shadow, taking charge. "Akado, you start patrolling left, I'll take the right, and Mari will watch our backs."

"And what makes you think that your the leader?", Akado barked.

"If you have a better idea I'd like to hear it."

"Well I think..."

"Heads up guys!", Mari shouted.

The pair turned to see a flurry of shuriken heading towards them. "I've got it!", Shadow shouted while forming a set of handseals. Stepping in front of the other two he shouted, "Fire Style: Giant Fireball!" Shadow exhaled his breath, releasing a massive ball of flame. The fire collided with the shuriken and stopped them in their tracks. A lone shuriken veered off to the right to cut a near invisible string tied to a nearby tree. A wave of kuni flew towards the group like rain. "Scatter!", Akado shouted. The three jumped off in different directions as a pair of smoke bombs landed in the midst of the chaos. The surrounding area was covered in thick black smoke as the Genin attempted to locate each other. Shadow activated his Dark Eye and took a look at the smoke.

"Damn, it's to thick to see through.", Shadow muttered as he wandered around blindly. "Wait a sec...", he muttered as he took a closer look at the smoke, his eyes dissecting the ingredients. "Guys, don't breath it in!", he shouted. "It's laced with a powerful hallucinogen!"

Akado, of course, heard none of this. He started wandering through the smoke waving his hands in front of his face. "Brilliant idea Shadow. Watch this way. Watch that way. Watch anything except the giant mass of pointy weapons moving towards us." Slowly Akado realized that his movements were becoming more sluggish. "What the..?" Finally realizing his predicament Akado tried to run out of the massive cloud. "I need to get out of here. Fast." Suddenly a kuni flew out of nowhere and embedded itself in Akado's shoulder. Akado shouted in pain and went to pull it out. Grabbing at the spot where he was hit, he realized that the kuni had disappeared. Looking around him he spotted a figure in the smoke waving at him. A gas-mask wearing Kesshi gave Akado a smirk before hopping out of sight.

Mari had known what the smoke was from the start and was in no danger of it. Her specially attuned bloodstream wouldn't allow the poison to get far. The problem, however, was finding her teammates before they got themselves killed. "Time to end this." Forming a series of handseals Mari took in a deep breath. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" A whirlwind of air blasted apart the smoke and brought her teammates into view. "Hey guys!", she shouted, waving hello. Suddenly Kesshi appeared behind her, his sword in hand and poised to attack. "Mari!", Akado and Shadow shouted in unison. Mari spun around to face her attacker. Raising her hands she caught the sword inches from her head. Kesshi pressed his sword forward but it wouldn't move. He could see that he had pierced the skin and yet their was still no blood.

"Go for it guys!", Mari yelled back at her teammates. The two took one quick look at each other and rushed forward. The two spun in place and delivered dual kicks to the teacher's chest, sending him flying through the air backwards. Kesshi lay flat on his back, looking up at his students.

"Game over.", Mari smiled. "We win." 


End file.
